


The Chamber's Secret

by orphan_account



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Gen, Hogwarts Founders Era, Post-Hogwarts, Post-War, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-04
Updated: 2019-07-10
Packaged: 2020-06-07 18:03:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19474468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Hermione, the new History of Magic professor, finally has the time and money to launch her dream project; excavating Hogwarts and writing the definitive book on the founders of Hogwarts. With Harry, her assistant, and a pair of curse breakers at her side, she sets out to know the Founders as no one has since the turn of the last millennium and ends up closer to them than she ever imagined.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, confession time: this is just the beginning of a long epic exploration of the Founders, the building of Hogwarts, and the world of the Founder's era that I had planned to write like 10 years ago (good grief!) for the Historical Big Bang on Livejournal. I only got so far before I stalled out and it has been packed away in the back of my digital closet. Every so often I'd bring it out, read it, and lament that I just didn't know what to do with it. Finally, I've decided to clean it up, slap some kind of ending one it and publish it. It will only be 3-4 chapters and maybe a little open-ended, but it will be finished. 
> 
> Anyway, I think it's interesting even if it is open-ended, so I want to share it. I have degrees in both history and anthropology, so I've always wanted to write a "historically accurate" exploration of the Founders' era. Given what we know from canon about journalistic and academic integrity (there isn't much of it, is there?), as well as the complete lack of curiosity about the now open Chamber of Secrets, I've been curious about how historical research is actually done in the Wizarding World. I have more than one fic started to explore just that, all of them half-finished and waiting for me to finish what I'm doing and come back to them. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you like this.

Hermione Granger looked up from her usual morning tea and buttered toast as the sounds of owls filled the Great Hall. The many birds dipped, swooped, and landed on the long house tables before the students who were to receive the cream-colored parchment missives tied to their outstretched legs. A few of those owls circling above made their way up to the High table at which sat Hermione and her fellow professors. 

One such bird alighted to the table in front her, knocking over a half-empty bowl of mixed fruit. Hermione’s eyes shone brightly when she recognized its sender. She quickly untied the letter, absently offering the tawny brown owl her remaining toast, and rose from her chair. She practically ran through the teacher’s side entrance. 

Headmistress McGonagall looked startled at her hasty departure as she had just been in mid-conversation with the young professor. She quickly realized, however, that this was _the_ letter and called out a “Good luck!” at her retreating back. 

Too excited to remember her manners, she didn’t bother to stop and turn around. “Thank y-,” the rest of whatever she said was lost when the door slammed closed behind her. McGonagall shook her head in fond exasperation. 

Hermione walked quickly up the Grand staircase to her first-floor classroom, where she had been teaching History of Magic for the last three years, and her neighboring office. Once inside she rushed over to her desk. Sitting, she tried to calm herself. She held in her hands the final decision, after her two-year campaign, on whether she would be able to finally pursue her dream project. Taking a big breath she calmly, though with trembling hands, pushed her finger under the flap of parchment and broke the purple wax seal bearing the Hogwarts crest featuring the mascots of the four Houses. The fifth and middle space, instead of containing the usual “H” for Hogwarts, bore a stylized image of a Hazel tree, marking the letter as coming from the Hogwarts governors. 

She quickly scanned the familiar looped script of Madame Archibald, the governors’ secretary, before clasping it to her breasts and squealing in delight. 

“Yes!” she exclaimed, shooting up from her chair and twirling like a little girl in the middle of her office. Abruptly she stopped and glanced at the clock on her mantel. If she left right then, she would make it before the boys left for the Ministry. Without further hesitation, she pinched some floo powder from the small jade box on the mantel and threw it into the fire. 

“The Cave!” she announced, stepping into the green flames and swirling away. 

She arrived in the Floo room of a small house and ran to the kitchen where she knew the boys would be. The house was Ron and Harry’s. It was small but comfortable, much like the Borrow, though sparsely decorated. The only knickknacks and decorative touches were from Hermione, who brought them back various trinkets from her frequent travels to spots around the globe. During her studies to get her Mastery, she had gone to places like the Ancient Library of Alexandria in Egypt or Caerfyrddin, Wales, the purported birthplace of Merlin, in order to immerse herself in history and never forgot to bring back souvenirs for the boys. Otherwise, the rooms were only filled with the piles of clothes, stacks of Quidditch magazines and equipment, and other typical signifiers of males living together. At one point Hermione had dubbed the place their “man cave”. The name had stuck and from then on their home was named The Cave. 

“Harry! Ron!” she called out as she crashed into the kitchen. The boys’ heads snapped up and were on alert for trouble, only to relax at the exhilarated look on Hermione’s face. 

“Moring ‘Mione,” Ron mumbled into his porridge, still not one for mornings. 

“Morning ‘Mione! What’s going on?” Harry added a little more cheerfully. His lopsided grin growing as he looked at the excited witch as if he were absorbing her enthusiasm. 

She held up the now creased parchment and waved it in the air. “I was approved! I was approved!” 

Harry’s smile nearly split his face. “Congratulations ‘Mione!” he quickly put his coffee on the table and stood up to hug her. She bounced in his arms and he flushed, burying his face in her fragrant, bushy hair. 

“Approved for what?” asked Ron, eyeing them a barely held back smirk trembling on his lips. 

Hermione whirled out of Harry’s arms and braced her hands on her hips. “Ron, really! Only the most important project of my career, maybe even my life!” she harrumphed, “I’ve only been talking about it since we were in school!” 

“Oh, that Founders thing? They finally letting you do that? Well, good on ya, ‘Mione” he said, shoveling another spoonful in his mouth. 

“Thanks,” Hermione huffed, rolling her eyes and sitting at the table, attempting to flatten out the creases from her letter. 

Harry meanwhile was sitting back down with his coffee. His large green eyes never left the pretty witch opposite him. 

Ron chuckled under his breath. “You got it bad, mate.” 

Harry’s cheeks infused with fiery red that only deepened when Hermione looked up from her letter and glanced at him worriedly. 

“What do you have? Are you sick?” she reached over the table to press her hand to his forehead and cheeks. 

Harry nearly choked in embarrassment. “Nothing, ‘Mione, just a cold, I guess,” he said as he sent a glare towards Ron and feigning a light cough. The redhead shoved the spoon back in his mouth before he could burst into laughter. 

*** 

Three weeks later the school year had ended for the summer and Hermione was finally ready to begin. The governors had approved her application for a grant of money that she would use to fund her dream project. 

Since her first reading of _Hogwarts,_ _A History_ , Hermione had been taken with the tale of The Founding Four, reading the chapter on them repeatedly until the pages had fallen apart- Godric Gryffindor, the bastion of all that was courageous and righteous; Helga Hufflepuff, a veritable unknown except that she valued the hard work and loyalty that her house was known for; Rowena Ravenclaw, the legendary woman of beauty and wit; and Salazar Slytherin, best known as a dark wizard and pure-blood separatist. 

It wasn’t until third year that she began to think about the story a little more critically. The Chamber of Secrets had been opened the previous year, and once the threat of being petrified was gone and the upset of nearly losing both Harry and Ginny to the shade of Tom Riddle had faded, questions began to form in her mind about the Chamber and why Slytherin had built it, questions that had no apparent answers. 

Before fifth year, when she went to Flourish and Blotts for her books, she passed the shelf that she had browsed before her first year. It was the biography section, holding such titles as _Slytherin: The Serpent Lord_ _,_ _Making a Stink: The Explosive Life of_ _Alberic_ _Grunnion_ and _Notable Magical Names of Our Time_. She noted that she had read about Harry Potter before she had met him in just such a book, and how, now that she knew so much more of the story, very little of it could be proven and much more of it was pure guesswork. 

By the end of the Final Battle and their return for their final year at school, she knew that many of the wizarding world’s myths, like the Tale of the Three Brothers, were based on historical reality, and many of the stories taken as truth were poorly researched and more full of fantasy and propaganda than actual fact. 

So what did that say about what was known of the Founders of Hogwarts? 

It was that question that she rolled around in the back of her mind. It was that question that finally led her to pursue her Mastery in History of Magic. It was that question that she was attempting to answer now. 

It had become her dream to discover the real faces of the Founders, to write a book and tell the Wizarding World the real story behind the most celebrated wizards and witches in their history after Merlin. 

She had immediately applied for permission to lead an archaeological survey of Hogwarts and its grounds upon obtaining the newly opened position of History of Magic Professor- Professor Binns having been exercised into the afterlife by the new headmistress who would have no such nonsense as a ghost for a professor on her watch- and had been summarily rejected. The governors had never opened up the school for such an endeavor and felt the pursuit of the knowledge she was after was inappropriate. The Founders and the legends surrounding them were very near sacred to many witches and wizards, especially those as deeply connected to Hogwarts as the Governors. 

She never gave up, however. For three years she continued to apply for the grant and permission to search Hogwarts, becoming more persuasive with each attempt as she reminded them that if she made significant discoveries, they would share in the profits the book would make, that she was considered, still, the brightest witch of her age, and if anyone could do their story justice, it would be her. Finally, on her last application, she broke out her secret weapon- she had Harry Potter. 

Harry had agreed to help her in her survey and, being the only known living Parselmouth, he would be invaluable assistance in discovering the secrets of Slytherin. 

It appeared to have been the key to breaking the governors, as Hermione now stood before her small team in preparation to begin their search. Harry stood, shuffling nervously to the side. He had immediately applied for time off work upon hearing that Hermione had been granted her permission and would be on hand whenever she needed him indefinitely. Not only would he be credited as their “linguist” but he would also put his Auror skills to use, taking care of any other magical creatures that might be hidden within the school as well as acting as their mediwizard, patching up any minor injuries with the basic healing he had had to learn in Auror training. 

Beside him stood Ash Bigsby. The older man was a hardened curse breaker hired from Gringotts. He had straw-colored hair that hung limply about his ears, a permanent five o’clock shadow, and piercing light blue eyes that never missed a thing. His gruff demeanor and grizzled appearance strongly reminded Hermione of the old ex-Auror Mad-Eye Moody, though considerably less paranoid. 

He came to the team highly recommended by Bill Weasley, who stood to the right of Bigsby leaning casually against the wall. He had been very interested to help Hermione upon hearing of the endeavor. He had been stationed at a site in Greece and had been looking for a job closer to home. The long-distance meant that he could only Floo home to his wife, Fleur, and daughter, Victoire, on the weekends and they had just learned that they were pregnant with their second child. Despite the less than exotic location, he was excited to get the job. Slytherin had used a _Basilisk_ of all things to guard the Chamber of Secrets, who knew what kind of interesting curses would be found deep within the school. 

The final member of the team was her assistant, Niti Singh. Hermione was not yet experienced enough as a Master to take on apprentices so, for now, the soon-to-be seventh year Ravenclaw would earn extra credit as her research assistant. Niti spent her time checking and double-checking that they had everything that they needed. She was a rather pretty girl, with almond-shaped black eyes and clear coffee-colored skin. She had a nervous habit of tucking her thick glossy black hair behind her ears and pushing her glasses up her aquiline nose, which she seemed to do whenever Harry had spoken to her. Hermione found the trait endearing. 

Once Niti nodded Hermione confirmation that all was in order, she sprang into action. 

“Okay guys!” she announced, clapping her hands in a mixture of excitement and attempt to collect their attention, “Harry if you could help Miss Singh and I carry our equipment, that would keep Bill and Mr. Bigsby free to handle anything we might encounter on our way through the Chamber.” 

Harry happily did as she asked, tugging a bag over his shoulder, heavy with vials for samples and expandable boxes for collecting any artifacts they might find. He smiled fondly at the excited skip in his childhood friend’s step as he and the merry band of explorers followed Hermione through the castle to the second-floor girl’s bathroom, a crate of supplies bobbing along behind them. Once there he walked straight to the far sink, bending over it to search for the tiny engraving of a snake. As he did in his second year, Harry asked it to “open up”, the words twisting on the journey from his brain to his mouth until it sounded from him as hisses. 

He ignored the usual shudders from the young student and the instinctive flinch from Bill, and admired the fact that Bigsby barely twitched, as the floor seemed to open up and swallow the sink before him. In its place, there was now a large hole leading into inky blackness. 

Harry, having learned a multitude of useful spells since his second year, quickly conjured a sturdy rope ladder to hang from the mouth of the entrance. He doubted very much that the group of people with them would be as accepting of just leaping and hoping for the best as he had been when he was twelve. 

“All set,” he announced. 

Bill and Bigsby cautiously came forward to probe for any curse wards or traps that might be present. Harry and Hermione knew that there wasn’t the last time Harry had been by but neither was willing to put the team at risk. 

Once it was determined that the path was clear, they offered to climb down first. Once they had all made it to the chamber level, Bill cast a strong shield that covered both he and Bigsby, who began flicking his wand in constant motion and muttering revealing spells under his breath. It was the standard formation for entering unknown areas when on a curse-breaking job. There were some nasty curses out there and one could not take too many precautions. 

Rubble littered the floor from where Lockhart had caused the Hall of Secrets to collapse and Ron had worked to clear a path for Harry. The opening was small but Hermione was sure that it would present no problem for them to get through it. The rocky opening, however, was not very stable. 

Bill, Bigsby, and Harry started working on it as soon as the area was found to be curse free. The curse breakers knew the drill. In their line of work, there were only three paths; domestic, medical, or archaeological. The domestic curse breakers could be sent to houses of clients and destroy, handle, or contain cursed objects or warded areas, sometimes working freelance for the ministry or on objects brought into Gringotts. Medical curse breakers worked exclusively on curing people who have been cursed, often becoming specialized Healers. Archaeological curse breakers, like Bill and Bigsby, went out onto archaeological sites and not only broke curses but helped to excavate the sites. There were no “archaeologists” as the muggles knew them in the wizarding world; the job was divided between historians and curse breakers. 

A few resized wooden beams, even more sticking charms, and a bit of shifting from the rocky debris had the opening slightly bigger and safe to travel through. 

As they walked through the winding hallway that led to the Chamber door, images on the walls could be seen hidden in shadows. Lifting her lit wand to the walls, Hermione gasped. The party halted and turned to her in concern. 

“Hermione? What’s wrong?” Harry whispered in the dark echoing corridor. 

“Runes!” she breathed, “and other writings. The whole wall is covered in it!” 

“And here too, Professor!” Niti called, holding her wand out towards the opposite wall. 

Hermione was thrilled. She recognized the curling script of Old English and the angular impressions of Anglo-Saxon runes. It was writing that would have been in use at the time of the Founders. It could be a direct source, words from the Four! 

“We will have to record this in detail, but let’s continue on into the Chamber so we can figure out what we have to work with,” she instructed, her eyes never leaving the words carved into the stone. 

They continued down the hall until they reached an ornate door. The door looked to be made of the same stone that made up the surrounding walls and thus was almost invisible except for the intricate carvings of snakes that adorned it. 

“ _Open_ _,_ ” Harry hissed again. 

The stone door clinked open and the group saw their first glimpse of the Legendary Chamber of Secrets. 

Again Bill and Bigsby fell into formation with shield and revealing spells active and crept carefully into the cavernous chamber. 

Hermione gasped. It was more magnificent than she had imagined! The most noticeable thing in the room by far was the pristinely preserved giant statue of Salazar Slytherin that stood tall and proud on the opposite wall. The likeness revealed a relatively young face, perhaps twenty-five or thirty years old, wide and monkey-like in appearance. Slytherin’s robes were ornately decorated with traditional Danish signias and runes. 

His dress confirmed what Hermione’s research into muggle historical documents had revealed. Wizards never thought to use muggle resources, which was ridiculous to Hermione, as there had not yet been a “wizarding world” at the time. The complete separation from muggles would not happen until after the disastrous Salem Witch Trials. So, using these sources, Hermione had already, without even excavating, found many surprises about the Founders. One such fact, that his robes lent credence to, was that Salazar Slytherin was the great-grandson of Sæbbi the Snake (so named for the rather vaguely described “penchant for serpents”), the right-hand man of Ivor the Boneless the Viking conquer of East Anglia, and was the last of the Danish conquerors to hold a position in the nobility after the Anglo-Saxons retook the area. 

At the statue's feet was a wide pool that spanned nearly the width of the room, out of which the large bones of the basilisk that Harry had defeated nearly a decade before still emerged. It looked as if the pool was one of the ritual fountains that had been prevalent back in the days of the founders. 

“All clear!” Bill called out, recalling Hermione to the present. 

“Ok, Miss Singh, can you fish out the camera?” Hermione asked, once again taking charge. “I would like to get pictures of everything as it is before we start messing with things.” 

The group began to quietly work, each taking turns surveying the room and taking pictures of interesting finds. 

At one point Bill asked Harry to go stand next to the statue of Slytherin in order to provide a scale for size. On either side of the statue and in the fountain there was an inordinate amount of rocks and rubble. Harry, ever the gracious helper, did as asked. Once the picture was taken, the Auror stepped away only to trip and fall over on the rubble. 

“Hey! I found something!” he called out from his position on the floor. 

The group hustled over to where the man was pushing way some of the rubble. 

“Look! There is something written here,” Harry said clearing dirt and debris from the letters carved in a wide stone base. 

The word was written in runes and some of it was also destroyed. Hermione leaned over Harry to see, resting a hand on his shoulder, never taking note of the sudden tension in the muscle underneath. 

“Lady Rowena of Glen Hogsmead,” Hermione read for them out loud, before she realized what she read and gasped, “Lady Rowena! This must have been a statue of Rowena Ravenclaw!” 

She stood upright, meeting the shocked faces of her fellow excavators. 

“A statue of Ravenclaw? Down here? This is the Chamber of Secrets! I thought this was supposed to be Slytherin’s room,” Bigsby questioned with disbelief in his voice. 

“Well, the history books have been wrong before. Spread out and look for any other bases like this. Maybe we will find one for each of the Founders!” Hermione ordered in excitement. 

The other four dug through the rubble and quickly found what they were looking for. 

“I found one!” 

“Slytherin’s base has some writing too!” 

“I think there’s another over here!” 

Hermione bounded over to each of the bases, taking pictures and translating the runes. 

“Ealdormen Slytherin of the Fen.” 

“Godric the Wise of Wessex.” 

“Helga, Lady of the Broad Valley.” 

“This is amazing! It seems this was a chamber devoted to all of the Founders, not just Slytherin!” 

“And it looks like someone did not like that too much,” Bill announced looking intently at a palm-sized rock that he held and shocking Hermione out of her haze of excitement. 

“What do you mean?” she asked, walking over. 

“Well you see, if these statues had toppled down naturally, they would have a crumbly texture and there would not be so many boulder-sized pieces, but look here. These rocks are all sturdy and the breaks show evidence of a concussive force,” he explained to her. 

“So what’s that mean?” Niti asked, having come over to listen to his explanation. 

“It means that it wouldn’t surprise me if-” Bigsby broke off to wave his wand in the direction of the fallen statues. Blue spell light blanketed the rubble before turning green and dissipating. “Yup, these were brought down by powerful Blasting curses.” 

“What?! Who would do such a thing?” Hermione asked. Her voice didn’t reach the level of a screech, but it was a very near thing. 

“Think about it, Hermione. Who was an avid fan of Slytherin as well as the only other person to have been in the Chamber before us?” Harry spoke up, scowling from where he sat on his knees before the former statue of Helga Hufflepuff. 

Hermione’s face showed disappointment and hardened fury. “Voldemort,” she spat. 

All three of their companions could not contain the instinctive flinch at the sudden use of the once-taboo name. 

“When Tom Riddle opened the chamber in the 1930s, he must have been down here doing more than chatting with that hulking snake. Didn’t appreciate Slytherin sharing the glory with the others I guess,” Harry reasoned. 

After that, they continued to search the room for more pieces of the past. Their next discovery was, at first, far less interesting than the discovery of the other three statues. It was a picture, about two hands high carved inconspicuously on a sidewall. The picture was of two stick figures holding hands and on one side of the figures was the rune “Sowilo”. By itself, it meant “sun” and was the symbol to invoke power to a rune spell. The rune was made up of three lines of equal length that looked like a backward crooked “N” or a lightning bolt. On the other side of the figures was “Kenaz” which was made up of two lines of equal length that looked like a “V” turned on its side. It was translated as “torch” and stored and imparted knowledge or showed the truth when used in a rune spell. 

Hermione stood next to the simple drawing for scale as Niti prepared to take a picture. Hermione placed her hand next to the picture for scale, her thumb landing partially on top of it before she hurriedly snatched it back. 

“Professor Granger?” Niti asked, seeing Hermione hold her hand as if burned and stare at the picture. 

“It glowed,” she breathed almost to herself. She hesitantly placed her whole hand in the middle of the picture. It was immediate. The lines of the picture seemed to fill with golden light before it slowly spread outwards filling in lines they had not seen connected to the image. 

By now the light had attracted the attention of everyone. 

They watched, entranced, as the golden light poured out into the room, spreading out from Hermione’s hand and creeping to Hermione’s left along the walls. As it flowed in invisible lines, images began to appear. The back wall seemed to fill with small lines which became swirling leaves and marshy grasses. A landscape of lush trees and endless swampy flatlands emerged. As the glow of magic reached the far wall, the trees, grasses, and flowers in the image began to sway in a non-existent wind. To any who was familiar with the landscapes of England, it was clear that it was the Fenlands of East Anglia, the homeland of Salazar Slytherin. 

The light continued unabated to the opposite wall and, again, an image began to form. A grouping of small, square, wooden houses and covered in thatched roofs settled in a small valley between two hills with a long and narrow great hall in the middle. It was much like any other village of its age, only this one would eventually be renamed Godric’s Hollow after its most famous resident Godric Gryffindor. 

Still, the light flowed forth and began to stain the next wall that contained the chamber entrance. A deep, broad valley was carved between craggy mountains. Another small town was formed, this one more populous if the number of wooden huts were to go by. Another great hall bordered one side of the village, butting up against a mountainside, with a larger rectangular house beside it that had once housed Helga Hufflepuff and her family. 

Finally, the light traveled back to the wall from which it came. The explorers watched as the last wall was covered in brightly lit designs. Like the first it appeared to form a natural landscape only with houses in the foreground. A wide and glittering lake appeared with a densely forested plateau surrounding it with a long dirt path was shown to lead to it. This time everyone, despite the many things that were not shown in the picture, recognized the place. The path was one they all had traveled many times and the forest was one they had looked upon with wary curiosity. It was the future site of Hogwarts as viewed from the small but wholly magical village of Hogsmead. 

The Founders had carved their world into these walls with magic. 

The light closed in on where Hermione still rested her hand. She was amazed by what she was seeing, and like the others stared about the room in wonder. All except for one. Harry was absorbed in the look of marvel that lit Hermione’s face. Her cheeks were flushed prettily and her eyes sparkled in joy. Harry couldn’t take his eyes off her. 

As the magic touched the image of the two figures and connected with her hand, light began to spread up her arm. It was then when Harry’s attention was finally diverted. 

“Erm, Hermione,” Harry began, but Hermione wasn’t listening. She was engrossed in the magnitude of her find and growing ever more thrilled about what was still left to be seen. 

“Hermione!” Harry called again, growing a bit more concerned as the light spread to her torso. If Harry had learned anything in his years hunting Horcruxes and being an Auror, it was to beware of unknown magic, and if Hermione was hurt in any way because he was too busy ogling her to do his job of protecting her, he would never forgive himself. 

“Huh?” Hermione answered, not really paying attention. 

“Hermione! Let go of the wall!” Harry tried, now very alarmed. The light now almost completely covered her body, working its way to the last parts not alight. 

“But Harry, look!” she answered in a tone of reverence. 

“Hermione, let go!” he screamed as the lit covered her and suddenly brightened. He dove for her, intending to wrench her hand from the wall before the magic could do anything. 

Many things seemed to happen at once. He wrapped an arm around her and the magic seemed to _jerk_ within her. 

“Harry?” she asked in confusion, having suddenly been broken out of her euphoria and catching a glimpse of fear and determination on Harry’s face. 

The movement knocked Harry slightly off balance and he instinctively tried to catch himself on the wall, placing his hand next to Hermione’s on top of the two figures. The light that shown from Hermione flashed, nearly blinding them before it seemed to engulf both of them in an instant. 

Fully blinded now, both Harry and Hermione could only see bright white as the pressure under their hands as they leaned against the wall gave way to nothingness and the floor beneath their feet seemed to grow softer and uneven. 

With the disappearance of the support of the wall, they fell to the ground. Harry moaned as Hermione fell full on top of him, her weight knocking the breath from him and her elbow jabbing into his ribs. Her mess of curly hair landed in his face. 

“Uhgg,” Hermione groaned on top of him, slowly lifting her head and gaining her bearings. Harry watched her face as she looked around them, her eyes growing wider and wider. 

Harry’s unease grew at the tumultuous sound of her voice. 

“Harry, where are we?” 


	2. Chapter 2

“Guys!”

“Professor!”

“Shite!”

Bill, Bigsby, and Niti all cried out in alarm when they saw Harry leap for Hermione and watched helplessly as they were engulfed in light. The force of the magical blast hurled them from their  feet and they tumbled across the room, trying to shield their eyes from the intense white light.

Bill slammed to a stop against the adjacent wall and moaned as he felt one of his ribs give way with a sharp crack. He slowly uncurled from his protective position, shaking the disorientation away and getting his feet under him again. 

He stared at the still brightly lit pictograph. Hermione’s magic continued to run through the lines of images like miniature churning rivers and pulsed with Hermione’s life-force. Everything seemed to be as it had been before the magical blast, everything except that Harry and Hermione were no longer there. 

Bill spun around to search the rest of the Chamber, ignoring the painful pull on his broken rib except to press his arm around them.

“Harry? Hermione?!” he called growing more frantic by the second.

The only movement came from Bigsby and Niti rising and collecting  themselves . Bigsby had already started over to the spot they had last saw the pair, while the seventh year student dusted off her robes and groaned lightly upon discovering that her glasses had  snapped in half with her fall and cut her lightly on the bridge of her nose.

Bill met Bigsby before the engraving in the wall. They briefly glanced at each other, their eyes saying the same thing: they had messed up. It had been beyond a stupid mistake. For two seasoned curse breakers, it had been an unforgivable mistake. It was curse-breaking 101 that one didn’t just play around with unknown  magics ! They should have put an end to Hermione’s actions the moment they had noticed it, but like Hermione, they had been excited. One didn’t become an archaeological curse breaker because one was nosy with a penchant for warding. They were just as devoted to the study of history and the exploration of the previously unknown as any History Master. They had foolishly allowed their curiosity and the trill of discovery to overcome their extensive training and better sense. 

Now they had to find out where Harry and Hermione had gone and how they could get them back.

Bigsby pulled his wand and began casting more intensive revealing spells as the walls had not shown that there was anything to be found with the basic ones before.

Bigsby swore under his breath.  “Should have known better. There’s definitely something here. It’s all buried deep under a blanket of benign magic, but I can see a siphoning charm on top and the faint outline of some kind of old transformative spell. I won’t be able to tell exactly what it is until I can dig in deeper,” he sighed, “It looks delicate though, so we are going to have to do some research before I try so I don’t destroy it and leave us with nothing to work with.”

“I can help with that,” Niti said, coming up to their side, trying to see the spells that they had been talking about but which were visible only to Bigsby who had cast the revealing spell.

Bill’s shoulder’s slumped, all of the slim hope that this blunder would have a quick fix dashed.

“I’m going to stay down here and see if I can find anything else on the walls. There has to be more for such a major piece of magic. Why don’t you guys go on back up and take care of that rib of yours and get started on the research,” Bigsby suggested gruffly.

Bill closed his eyes in defeat, suddenly feeling very weary. Once they got up top to the main floors of the castle they would have to tell the H eadmistress what had happened . The stern woman would not be happy at all.

Bill followed Niti out of the Chamber and into the Hall. They stopped as one at the sight before them. The entire Hall of Secrets was alight. Just like in the Chamber, the lines of the written Old English and Runes were filled and glowing with magic.

Niti made a noise as if hit with an idea before scrambling back to the Chamber and grabbing up one of the forgotten cameras. She quickly took pictures of all of the writing from various angles before nodding her head in accomplishment. “I’m thinking that we could probably learn something from this if I can translate it properly. I’m nowhere as good at this as Professor Granger, but even the little I know has to be better than nothing, right?”

Bill nodded and shot a small appreciative smile towards her. He really should have thought about that but he had been quite effectively unnerved with these events. He had asked specifically for this job, not just for the benefits in location and the imagined excitement of battling a basilisk, but because if anyone was going to take care to make sure Hermione’s survey was safe, it was going to be him. Harry and Hermione were practically his newest little siblings and he had let them down in the worst way. They didn’t even know if the two were still alive. Bill shivered violently at the thought and shoved it away .

If anything happened to them Ron would never forgive him, but any grudge he held would be nothing to the one  Bill would hold against  himself .

***

“Harry, where are we?” Hermione’s whispered voice held a hint of fear and her brow scrunched in worry. She locked eyes with him and any answer he would have had (which  was none) was gone from his mind.

“Oh!” Hermione suddenly exclaimed, and began to scramble off of him, “Sorry Harry!”

Harry flushed, having not been  upset _ at all _ to feel her body pressed against his, and slowly got to his feet, taking stock of  himself as he did and feeling only slight bruises from their fall. That done, he finally  got a look at their surroundings. He felt his stomach lurch in trepidation. They were certainly not in the Chamber of Secrets anymore, in fact, he thought it was pretty safe to conclude that they were not even in the castle.

They were surrounded on all sides by thick forest. How they had landed without bashing their heads on a tree Harry would never figure out. The undergrowth was dense and nearly impenetrable, with small animal trails the only relief. It was dark and cool under the canopy of trees and eerily silent, though that was probably  more  from their unexpected appearance than anything too sini ster. At least, H arry hoped so.

The two of them automatically drew their wands.

Harry didn’t know what to think or what to say to comfort Hermione, who looked like she was growing more and more nervous as they searched their small clearing. Where were they? How did they get there? Were the others somewhere around here too? How did they get back? 

They stood there for a minute waiting for something to happen, some noise to give them a hint of what was going on , before Harry let out a gusty sigh. 

“Well, I guess we can’t stand here all day. We should try and find our way out so we can figure out where we are. That way we can send a message to Bill and them with our location,” Harry suggested, taking charge.

Hermione nodded, shifting closer to Harry and continuing to search the wall of trees. 

The started out in silence, both of them occupied with raging thoughts.  I t didn’t take them very long to reach the break in the trees, though they were both glad to have been wearing jeans and boots. The trees seemed to grab at them  and scratched at their skin as they passed. 

The forest butted right up to a large body of water, a lake if Hermione guessed right. The water was a steely blue, reflecting the ominous dark clouds that hung heavy with what was sure to be a decent storm above it. The trees went right up to the water bed, so they had to walk in the tree line to get around the lake to find some land. They felt grateful that the lake was a smaller one, as they found themselves stepping out of the trees and onto a grassy field soon enough. 

A short walk through the field after finding a muddy path to follow and the two travelers perked up considerably with the sight of a small grouping of houses. They were a fair distance away still and the houses looked tiny cradled as they were in a glen with mountains rising up around it.

The pair walked side by side, both breathing a little easier now that they were out in the open, though neither was looking forward to walking in the drenching rain and both crossed their fingers in hopes that the clouds would hold until they were safely back in Hogwarts.

The clouds cared little for their wishes and opened up above them just as they reached the outskirts of the town drenching them thoroughly in seconds. 

Harry and Hermione had other things to pay attention to, however. The town was approached with confusion. The houses were small, all appearing to be made up of one room. They were wooden with thick thatched roofs . The streets were little more than muddy paths between houses. There was no one outside, the storm had proved too much for even the heartiest of residents, but Harry could see evidence that this was not a normal town. There was a blacksmith shop with various metal works hanging from racks that could be seen from the street, including swords. The air was thick with the smell of animals and everything that went with them, a scent that evoked memories of Hagrid and his great beasts. It looked like a village pulled straight out of the history books.

“What..?” Harry wondered out loud.

“I don’t know. Perhaps it’s some kind of historical  reenactment site or something,” Hermione suggested uncertainly. She spun slowly in a circle, taking in the strange town before she froze with her back to where Harry was also looking about warily. 

“Harry!” she breathed, reaching back blindly and tugging on the sleeve of Harry’s jumper. 

He quickly looked over her shoulder to see what had her so upset. At first, he didn’t see anything particularly interesting, until a sense of d éjà vu  hit him. In the distance  were the lake they had just come from and the forest that framed it.  N estled in the tree line behind where they had emerged from the woods was a  large grey  stone building .  The muddy little path they had followed swung around the opposite edge of the lake from the forest and lead right into the village. Then it clicked in Harry’s mind and he  grew in a gasp, before he groaned, a mix of emotions fighting within him.

It was the same view as was seen in the Chamber written in magic on the Chamber walls. It was the view of  the newly built Hogwarts from Hogsmeade. It was  a  view that had no t existed  for around a thousand years. 

“Harry! What’s going on?” 

Harry winced at the fear that was back in her voice. He gathered her to him in a hug he hoped would comfort her, the rain seeming to lessen up slightly. “I think- M erlin I can’t  believe I’m going to say this- I think we didn’t go some _ where _ else, I think we went some _ when _ else. I think we went back to the time of the Founders!”

Hermione seemed to choke on that revelation and squeezed Harry tighter.

“Oh god! What are we going to do?” 

Harry knew that Hermione was in shock. He had never seen her act like this. Despite her bookworm ways, she had always been the very definition of a brave and noble Gryffindor. Harry though, seemed to grow calmer in the face of Hermione’s panic. He pulled her underneath an overhanging roof of what seemed to be empty animal stalls in order to get out of the rain.

“First you are going to calm down, take a breath. We need to find a place to get out of this rain. I don’t think they will take  too kindly to two strangers showing up in clothes that won’t be invented for another nine hundred years so I hope you know how we should be looking, and we can transfigure our clothes before we meet anyone,” Harry said, pushing Hermione from him slightly so he could look in her eyes. Before he did anything, however, he tapped them both on the head with his wand. A cold sensation dribbled down their bodies as the  Disillusionment Charm  took effect. Now no one would be able to see them sort themselves out if they happened to look out the window.

She nodded sheepishly , though invisibly, and took a deep breath. “Ok, we can do this. I’ve read all of the major sources, both muggle and magical, on this time period, so this should be easy, right?” she smiled tremulously at Harry’s encouraging  noise . 

After drying them both with a wave of her wand, she set about transfiguring their clothes. Harry’s hard-soled boots transfigured into  _ brogs _ , soft leather slippers, cured a dark brown and gathered and cinched with a single shoe cord tied at the top. His jeans molded closer to his legs and became a pair of brown and black checkered wool breeches with stirrup straps at the feet. Over that, Harry’s undershirt extended to become a soft golden yellow long-sleeved  _ léine _ , or long tunic, which fell to his knees, was cinched at his waist with a leather belt, and trimmed with a band of intricate green embroidery at the neck, wrists, and hem. Over everything, Harry’s jumper seemed to stretch to the ground and open in the front to form a  _ brat _ , a rectangular blanket-like garment worn like a cape. It was a rich solid green, perhaps too rich in color for the times, but Hermione loved how it matched Harry’s eyes. It was decorated with gold threads and a gold circular brooch that held the  _ brat _ on at the shoulder. Hermione giggled at the playful scowl Harry shot her upon seeing the lightning bolt that rested in the center of the brooch.

Hermione’s outfit was much the same. Her shoes became leather  _ brogs _ with a wide tongue. She wore no breeches as her  _ léine _ flowed to her ankles and fitted closer to her form. It was brown with yellow Gaelic key patterned embellishments lining the hem and sleeves and was cinched at the waist with a yellow woven belt with matching fringe. In place of the breeches, she transfigured herself a long-sleeved  _ ionar _ , an open knee-length jacket of plain grey wool. Her  _ brat _ was draped over top, the deep red burgundy fabric checked with black and pined with a diamond shaped brooch. 

Hermione nodded in satisfaction with her work. Their clothing was not too common and not too affluent. Hopefully it would help keep them from  gaining  too much notice. After a moment’s thought and a considering glance at Harry, Hermione charmed her hair into an intricate braid and transfigured a long  rectangular piece of  light blue  fabric from the  handkerchief she had in her pock et. She laid it over her head, covering her forehead and hair, and draped it under her chin and over her shoulder, leaving only  her face bare.  The  _ caille _ would signify that she was married, which would help keep them unnoticed. An unmarried woman and man traveling together would certainly raise a few eyebrows!

With that, Harry lifted the  Disillusionment Charm , charmed their clothes impervious to rain, though  the torrent had calmed to a heavy drizzle, and the pair stepped back out into the streets of  Hogsmeade.

They walked around the tiny village taking in the unfamiliar sights with awe and trepidation, before coming upon a building that seemed to be a little bigger than the others. Hoping they had come across an inn, they made their way to the heavy wooden door and knocked.

The door opened with a creek and a shapely woman in an indigo  _ caille _ and tan  _ léine _ spattered with various stains appeared. Kindly blue eyes looked out at them . “Can I help you?” she asked in a thick Scottish brogue.

“ Er ,  We’re looking for a room. Do you have any vacancies?” Harry asked.

“Rooms?” the woman asked in confusion, before her face cleared and lit up in recognition and happiness. “Oh! You must be the delegation from the King’s  Premier ! Welcome! Welcome! Come in!”

She stepped aside and ushered them in enthusiastically. Harry’s face was now marred in confusion, while Hermione tried her best to contain her shock and nervousness. The delegation from the King’s Premier! Good heavens!

“I apologize, Sire,  Lady, I did not expect you so soon! I was just doing some brewing,” the woman continued. She paused suddenly. “Sire, whatever happened to your  traveling  packs and your beasts?”

Hermione thought quickly. She knew who the woman meant by the King’s Premier and from that, a plan began to form in her head. The Premier was a position in the royal court started by Merlin, the advisor to the King of all things and peoples magical. Where the muggles were separated into  separate kingdoms through out Britain, wizards were loosely united  in allegiance  under the king of  Wessex , the kings of  the legendary King  Arthur’s line, and his Premier. But why would the Premier send a delegation to Hogsmead, unless… 

Hermione struggled to keep her composure. 

She knew from her extensive studies that Hogwarts was started at the prompting of the King after the founders met at a royal convening of all of the most learned minds of the magical realm under the guidance of the Premier . Is that was she just stepped into? 

Hermione could barely breathe with the thought of it.  If the delegation was to come here, that meant that this had to be… They couldn’t be, could they? Could they really have landed at the home of Rowena Ravenclaw herself? Was s he at  _ the _ moment when the founders of Hogwarts destinies lead them to become the most influential an d celebrated wizards in history?

She  _ had _ to stay. She  _ had _ to know more about her idols. It was the very reason they had gotten into this situation in the first place!  While she shuddered at the thought of divination, even she could see that she and Harry were  _ destined _ to be here.  Without further thought, she jumped in with both feet.

“We were ambushed!” she announced, shocking Harry beside her, “All of our things were taken by Viking bandits not far from here!”

“Merlin! Come! Sit! Settle  yourselves, we’ ll get you a bit of food and drink. Poor souls wandering in the forests!” the woman hustled  across the room  to the  hearth that was surrounded by boiling cauldrons and a small table with half chopped  ingredients . Harry turned shocked, accusing eyes on Hermione, but before Harry  c ould open his mouth, the woman popped her head back  around , “ Ach ! I’ve forgotten my manners, I have. I am Rowena .”

“Hermione,” Hermione introduced, “This is my husband Harry.”

“Pleasure, a pleasure! Now you two settle in and warm up by the fire and I’ll be right out ” .

Once  her attention was again focused on gathering food , Harry turned to her again, this time in incredulity. Between the discovery that they were being hosted to dinner by  _ the _ Rowena Ravenclaw and the fact that he was introduced as Hermione’s  _ husband _ , Harry’s mouth and brain seemed to malfunction. Instead of, “What the bloody hell is going on? Why did you lie and say we were that delegation? Is that really Rowena Ravenclaw? What do you mean ‘my husband Ha rry’?” what came out was “ Gwauh ? !”

Hermione shushed him. “There is no way I am giving up a chance to spend time with an actual founder of Hogwarts!” she whispered fiercely. 

They looked up as Rowena came back and set a platter of bread and salted mutton along with a tankard of ale on the table.

“There you be, eat up!” Rowena announced cheerfully. 

A sudden wail sounded from  a cradle that had sat unnoticed until now in the corner of the room, a safe distance from the boiling cauldrons. “ Oooh , mummy didn’t forget you dear one!” Rowena cooed as she gathered the small bundle from the cradle.

She propped the child upon her lap as she retook her seat across from the couple. “This is my daughter Helena,” she introduced, tickling the plump baby under her chin. 

Once she had the child settled, she turned her attention to other matters. “So, you must be tired! Quite a long journey up from the Southern Kingdom,” she said.

“Oh, yes, quite,” Hermione said haltingly. She had never been all that good at lying. “It was worth it, however. We’ve heard such great things about you and the building of your school … er … down in the southern Kingdoms.”

“Gracious, an honor to be recognized, it was! I nearly made a scene when the royal messenger arrived! To think that the courts have taken such an interest in the opening of our school, it’s an honor! ”

“I understand that you  will be teaching as the school’s Potions Mistress. I have heard you  have been working on a more efficient method of preparing beetle eyes  to enhance their  potency,” Hermione  enthused .

Rowena gave her a strange look. “Well, I had been considering the problem, but haven’t yet started that project,” she started slowly. 

There was an awkward pause as Hermione had a mild freak out in her head for speaking of a discovery that the soon-to-be Founder had not yet made.

“ But I am working on a new brew, based on one of my mother’s famous calming  tonic . I am attempting to increase its potency and length of effectiveness. I am very close to getting right! Have you ever brewed?”

Harry sat and watched the emotions that ran over the founder’s face as she conversed with Hermione . She wasn’t anything like she was portrayed back in their time. She was vivacious and cheerful, rather than the cold and intimidating genius she was in reputation. She was more like a young Madame  Rosemerta than a young Professor McGonagall. She giggled and bounced in her chair with  enthusiasm as she spoke  of her work.

Hermione glowed next to her as she always did when she engaged in academic discussion with one well versed in the subject. Even with her wild and vibrant hair restrained beneath her covering, her bright eyes and flushed cheeks endeared her to Harry. Even in his shock at his present situation, his thoughts muddled and confused, he could only think that she was beautiful.

He was distracted by the babbling baby who suddenly reached out to him, nearly leaping out of her mother’s hold. Rowena only paused to smile and heft her into his lap as he reached to stop her from falling. The two stared at each other, Harry blinking dumbly at the baby who drooled copiously back at him before little Helena gave a gummy smile and laughed at him. He smile d and tickled her round belly, eliciting more adorable shrieking laughter.

The four spent an hour or two talking and getting to know each other, the day steadily growing into evening before they were interrupted by another person. A man  with shoulder-length dirty-blond hair  entered through the heavy wooden door. He  wore a  natural colored  _ léine _ that reached to his shins, with red and white plaid stirrup breeches, and an ornately decorated  _ brat _ , showing he held a distinguished position. He was broadly built and gruff looking, yet he turned kind eyes on his wife as he entered the house.

“ Morgunn , the Premier’s delegation has arrived!” Rowena called to him. She placed a hand on his shoulder and steered him to face Harry and Hermione, who rose from their seats. “This is Harry and his wife Hermione.”

“An honor,” his deep voice rumbled from his chest as he bowed in greeting. “Here to inspect the  school , yes?”

“Uh, yes, of course,” Hermione quickly agreed.

“Will Sal, Godric, and Lady Helga be joining us for dinner then?”

“Auch! Dragon’s teeth! Here I am going on and on about my brewing and I completely forgot to tell the others!” Rowena cried in exasperation. “I’ve not even told the others that the  delegation is here! We should have prepared a feast for your arrival!”

Hermione perked up considerably, which was hard to imagine as she was, by Harry’s view, in near throes of ecstasy already. “The other Masters are here? Lord Slytherin, Lord Gryffindor, and Lady Hufflepuff?”

“Aye,” Rowena said, rising and preparing a plate of supper for her husband. She clucked her tongue. “Lady Helga will have my head, forgetting my graces  like this!”

Morgunn gave a laugh that shook the support beams of the house and  joined them at the table and took the baby from Harry’s arms when she reached for him.  “Send a boy around with a message, darling, else you will have to put the feast off another day if Sal and Lady Helga spend the day at the castle again tomorrow. Now that the building is completed, they are in their element dictating what goes where. You should get yourself up there, else they’ll stick your potions chamber in the dungeons!”

“Oh! The castle is completed  already? May we go see it?” Hermione enthused.

“It’s been quite a job to build it, being so much bigger than anything we have up here in the highlands. It should serve as a wonderful place for students to study with their Masters.” Morgunn smiled at her over his dinner plate.

“Yes, it’s the perfect spot,” Rowena added. “I inherited it from my father as a bride  price but have found no good use for it. I have all the room I require for a small garden for food and my potions ingredients behind the house, so I suggested to the others we build here.”

Rowena sent a note off to the other founders with a young stable hand and it was decided that the Ravenclaws would introduce Harry and Hermione to the legendary founders the next day, then meet in Slytherin's great hall for a welcoming feast. T he  quartet spoke more until nightfall. They learned that  Morgunn was the village headman and a clan soldier when called for it. They spoke of the village and the frequent clashes they had with the Viking invaders and the fortifications they included when building the school that would be able to accommodate most of the  village should they need aid.

By the time Rowena thought to prepare their sleeping quarters, Harry and Hermione were exhausted. Time traveling took a lot out of a person apparently , even as Hermione’s mind spun with all of the history that has been confirmed or contradicted in these past few hours.

The house, while bigger than most of the others, was a single room with the hearth on one side and the bed on the other. Above the bed was an alcove that was normally used for storage. That was where a straw pallet was laid for Harry and Hermione to sleep. It was simple but more than adequate by the standards of the times.

Harry and Hermione plop ped tiredly onto the stiff pallet after stripping down to just their  _ léine _ . 

“’N ight,  Mio ne ,” Harry whispered.

“Goodnight, Harry.”


End file.
